<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>red hair and strong lungs by Space_Samurai</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27596204">red hair and strong lungs</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Samurai/pseuds/Space_Samurai'>Space_Samurai</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Implied Relationships, Post-Whole Cake Island</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:15:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,827</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27596204</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Samurai/pseuds/Space_Samurai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Foosha Village isn’t what Smoker had pictured. Quiet and peaceful, hardly the first place that comes to mind when thinking about Strawhat Luffy or Red-Hair Shanks.</p><p>This task should’ve been given to a rookie, but his superiors are still pissed off, enough to pull him and Tashigi from the New World to deal with this shit, so into the village they walk.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Makino</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>127</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>red hair and strong lungs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmungoe/gifts">missmungoe</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Foosha Village isn’t what Smoker had pictured. Quiet and peaceful, hardly the first place that comes to mind when thinking about Strawhat Luffy or Red-Hair Shanks.</p><p>This task should’ve been given to a rookie, but his superiors are still pissed off at him, enough to pull him and Tashigi from the New World to deal with this shit, so into the village they walk.</p><p>Find a connection, they told him. Go look for whatever makes the people that grow up there so wildly powerful. Try to recruit whoever looks like they might on their way to become wildly powerful. And while you are at it, try to find out why the hell an emperor would stay there for half a year when the seas are nobody's and Blackbeard grows unhinged.</p><p><em>Fuck them</em>, Smoker thinks while lighting a cigar. Tashigi frowns at the habit, but says nothing. So what if the emperor wanted to have a little vacation from the chaos that was the New World? He should be attending the chase of the former Warlords of the Sea, not putting up with this.</p><p>He remembered Red-Hair Shanks, how he had stood up for what was right when those sworn to uphold justice had failed to do so. The image of the man stepping in to end the war is something he isn’t likely to forget any time soon.</p><p>The tip had come from a merchant from Goa Kingdom, who had gaped from his own ship as he saw the Red Force arrive at the tiny village. At the time, they were too busy burying their dead, building New Marineford and dealing with the horrid mess that was the New World after Whitebeard’s death to deal with an emperor showing up at the weakest of the seas. </p><p>They are on their own, having left the division back on the port, where they were met with suspicion that is uncommon from civilians. Though considering the amount of criminals that had emerged from this tiny place, he couldn’t blame them for fearing whatever retribution they imagined was coming their way. He didn't complain, it kept them from coming to chat. Not to mention that some of them looked oddly hungover and it was barely Tuesday.</p><p>If you want to know about what a pirate’s been up to, the first place to go is a bar, so they ask for directions and they are pointed to the only bar in town through almost gritted teeth.</p><p>The mayor catches them halfway there and he's the only person in the village who doesn’t seems to be wary of them. He is quick to inquire if they are here under Garp’s orders, letting them know that this is the man’s hometown and thus under his direct protection.</p><p>Smoker feels like asking why Garp’s hometown would both raise and receive pirates so openly, but he doesn’t. There’s no point in immediately antagonizing the mayor.</p><p>So he just shakes his head. "The orders came from above him." Something shines on the eyes of the small man, though it’s gone in a second and he vanishes almost as fast. Tashigi blinks in confusion and Smoker shrugs. Talkative bunch, these people. </p><p>The building looks nothing the questionable establishments he has grown used to frequenting in the New World. It looks more like a house than a bar, with little plants on the outside and the walls painted an even terracotta.</p><p>Someone’s soft humming is cut as they walk in and a distressed wail resonates against the walls. There’s a girl rocking a baby.</p><p>“Please love,” a gentle voice asks. “Mama needs to work.” She finally looks up, an apologetic smile in her lips that wavers just the tiniest bit at the sight of them. A kiss is pressed on the head of the quieting bundle and she places him behind the counter, likely on a bassinet or a small crib.</p><p>The girl is short, with long black hair pulled back in a pony-tail and a kerchief around her head. Probably not a girl at all, if she has a baby. And as Smoker sits on one of the stools by the counter, he gets a better look and realizes she’s certainly older than Tashigi.</p><p>“I’m sorry about that,” the smile is still there, “He didn’t get much sleep last night.”</p><p>Tashigi, as expected, is scandalized at the thought of a young woman apologizing for the cries of her baby. “Of course not— I mean, there’s no problem. At all.” She finishes awkwardly, but the barmaid doesn’t seem to care. In fact, she chuckles.</p><p>“I was going to bring him upstairs for a nap. I didn’t think I’d get any clients after lunch.” She wiped her hands in her apron. “What can I get you?”</p><p>“A glass of Scotch would be nice.” He says, because if they are about to bombard her with questions they should at least buy something first.</p><p>“A glass of water, please.” Tashigi orders, polite as ever. Then, she turns to Smoker and hisses. "We are on duty!" He swiftly ignores her.</p><p>“Would you like some lunch as well?” The woman inquires, serving their drinks.</p><p>“No thanks,” they didn’t come all the way from the New World to have a pleasant lunch. Though he really wouldn’t mind one, after eating their cook’s flavorless food for months. The last time he had a proper meal was after Caesar Clown’s defeat at Punk Hazard, when the Strawhats cook had made a feast for all to share. “We came looking for information.”</p><p>“On what?” She asked innocently. “I’m sure Garp-san knows everything there’s to know about what’s going on here.”</p><p>“We aren’t here on Vice Admiral Garp’s behalf,” Tashigi explains, clearing her throat. “I'm afraid we haven’t introduced ourselves properly. I’m Captain Tashigi and this is Vice Admiral Smoker. Headquarters sent us to investigate pirate activity—”</p><p>“Did you have a party recently?” Smoker cut her, there were small pieces of confetti on the floor and he spotted what suspiciously looked like wanted posters at the end of the counter.</p><p>She nodded. “Yes, last night.” A small blush covered her cheeks. “Apparently I didn’t clean as well as I thought I did.”</p><p>Smoker made a dismissive gesture. “What was the cause of the happy occasion?”</p><p>“Strawhat Luffy was declared the Fifth Emperor of the Sea.” The smile returned to her face, this time brighter. “We finally got some news on him and his crew. I hope they are all being careful, the New World sounds like a very dangerous place…”</p><p>Tashigi’s eyes widened. She spoke of the boy familiarly. “You know Strawhat?”</p><p>“His grandfather used to leave him in my care when he was a young boy.” She said fondly. “Well, you could say everyone in the village helped taking care of him. There’s always a celebration when news come in.”</p><p>“But he’s a pirate!”</p><p>“And still our Luffy.”</p><p>After Alabasta and Punk Hazard, Smoker wasn’t going to sit there and preach about the crimes of Strawhat, so he just sipped on his drink. When he was done with it, she served him another one and he noticed the golden band around her finger.</p><p>Silence reigned for a while until the baby began to fuss once more. The barmaid turned around, attention returning to her child.</p><p>“Someone’s hungry,” she whispered gently. “I’ll get you a bottle as soon as I’m done here.”</p><p>“Don’t let us hold you,” Smoke said, making her jump.</p><p>“There’s no hurry—“</p><p>“Please. We’ll keep an eye on him.” Hesitation flickered through her face for a moment, before she scurried away to what appeared to be the kitchen. Tashigi glared at him when the woman was out of sight.</p><p>“Smoker-san.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“You’re being brusque!” The baby began to cry louder, interrupting whatever lesson in manners she intended to teach him. Without looking at her, Smoker leaned forward and grabbed the child, who squirmed in his arms.</p><p>He was a chubby little thing, far from a newborn. He had the barmaid’s big brown eyes, but not her black hair. No, the hair in his head was the brightest shade of red Smoker had ever seen. And he had quite the pair of lungs too.</p><p>“I think I’m getting the hang of this,” he said as the cries became small whimpers. The time they’d spent with the children of Punk Hazard as they went to see Vegapunk had taught him a thing or two.</p><p>The mother was back, bottle in hand and an uneasy expression in her pretty features. Smoker brushed it off as the unease of any parent seeing someone else holding their child. She eagerly took him from his arms.</p><p>As she fed him, Smoker finished his second glass. “How old is the little screamer?”</p><p>“He’ll be ten months old on the fifth,” she cooed, eyes on the infant.</p><p>Smoker hummed to himself. “No father to help around?”</p><p>The question seemed to freeze her. Tashigi kicked him on the shins and he actually had to bite back a sound of pain.</p><p>“My husband is a sailor.” She said slowly. “He’s not with us right now.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Tashigi offered. Smoker wasn’t sure if she was apologizing for him or for her situation.</p><p>“Don’t be. I’m sure that we are never away from his thoughts.”</p><p>Tashigi sighed at her words, but Smoker paid them no attention. He counted on his head. A child that would be ten months old would’ve been conceived at least eighteen months ago. His eyes didn’t stray from the red locks on the boy's head and when the barmaid caught him looking, he saw her arms tightening around him.</p><p>It wasn’t that far of a stretch. If there were any places a pirate was likely to visit often, a bar was certainly one of them.</p><p>Instead of thinking about Red-Hair, Smoker thought of Firefist and the burning hole in his chest. A vague memory of something that happened in Baterilla, a senseless slaughter of innocents for the greater good.</p><p>Once more, his eyes ran through the now sleeping baby and his mother.</p><p>“Some strong lungs he has. Think we have a marine on the making?”</p><p>The smile he received was tight. “Garp-san raised Ace and Luffy to be marines,” was the only thing she said.</p><p>So no.</p><p>“Well, hope the rest of him grows to be as strong.” He paid for both the water and his two glasses of Scotch, leaving also a generous tip. “Good day, ma’am.”</p><p>“But— Smoker-san!” Tashigi followed him hurriedly as he made their way out. “We didn’t ask any questions!”</p><p>“Don’t need to.” He lightened two cigars. “Mission was a shitshow from the start.”</p><p>“High Command won’t like this.”</p><p><em>Fuck them</em>, he thought again. “Too bad. We’ll tell them exactly what we saw, lots of windmills, lots of melons and very few pirate kings in the making.”</p><p>Or at least, so he hoped. He sure as hell wasn’t taking responsibility for how that one turned out to be.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, timeline is all over the place. Sorry about that, hope it didn't keep you guys from ejoying it haha.</p><p>This work is for missmungoe, whose works I've been reading since forever and made me fall in love with this pairing. Not up to the quality of her fics, but had lots of fun writing it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>